Police: 3 Missing Connecticut Boys, Mother Found In Maine

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VERNON, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Authorities found three missing Connecticut children and their mother safe in Maine on Tuesday morning shortly after a multistate Amber Alert was issued, and police took the mother into custody.

Jackie Morris, 32, and her three sons were found at a motel in Bangor, after she failed to return the children to their father after a weekend visit. The boys live with their father, Jason Lewis, in Vernon, Conn. and Morris has visitation rights, police said.

Lewis called police Monday night to report that Morris hadn’t returned his sons. The Amber Alert was issued shortly after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and cancelled at around noon.

The boys — 9-year-old Ryan Lewis and 7-year-old twins Dylan and Brandan Lewis — were in the custody of Maine officials waiting for their father to pick them up, Bangor police said.

Authorities were deciding on criminal charges against Morris.

Police had said they were concerned for the children’s safety.

Relatives told police Morris has a history of mental health problems and recently returned to Connecticut after having lived in Maine. Vernon police said she appeared to be homeless and living in her car.

Jackie Morris (credit: Vernon Police)

Morris and Lewis were involved in a child custody case in Rockville Superior Court that ended in November with a joint custody agreement that called for the boys to live with their father, while Morris had visitation rights, said Lewis’ lawyer, Benjamin K. Potok. Potok described the custody case as “slightly contentious.”

Court records show Morris was living in Southwick, Massachusetts, during the custody case last year.